In the months since the riot, federal prosecutors have brought charges against around 650 people. In his sentencing memo, Watkins said Chansley has suffered in prison, experiencing panic attacks and claustrophobia. The lawyer also said Chansley had struggled with mental-health issues for 15 years. “He wasn’t violent, he wasn’t destructive, he wasn’t a planner, he wasn’t an organizer,” Watkins said at the hearing. Watkins on Wednesday said his client never intended to hurt anybody at the Capitol and distinguished him from other rioters who came prepared for confrontation. He is not miles away, he is not a plane ride away, he is feet away from the object of his contempt.” “Those words hit differently knowing that he is not across the country,” she said, “he is not hours away, he is minutes away. Last week, Scott Fairlamb, the first rioter to plead guilty to attacking a police officer at the Capitol, received a 41-month prison term.Īt the sentencing hearing, federal prosecutor Kimberly Paschall characterized the note Chansley left for Pence as “a threat,” pointing out that the vice president was still under protection in the Capitol at time. But prosecutors are now turning to rioters accused of more serious crimes. Until last week, the longest sentence given to a Capitol rioter was eight months, with some receiving only probation. I’m a good man who broke the law, and I’m doing all I can to take responsibility for that.” “I am not a violent man, I am not an insurrectionist, I am not a domestic terrorist. “I am in no way, shape or form a dangerous criminal,” he said. 6 actions, recounted his work with abused children and spoke of his love of Jesus and Gandhi. “Justice is coming!”Īddressing the court before his sentencing, Chansley cut a very different figure, giving a long, rambling statement in which he expressed contrition for his “indefensible” Jan. “It’s Only a Matter of Time,” the note said. The Donald Trump supporter left a hand-written note on a dais that then Vice President Mike Pence had vacated as the riot unfolded. His lawyer Albert Watkins had asked that Chansley, who has been in custody since shortly after the riot, be given no additional jail time.įilmed shirtless and carrying an American flag, Chansley quickly became one of the most recognizable symbols of the insurrection. The punishment was less than the 51 months prosecutors had requested for Chansley, who pleaded guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington.
6 Capitol riot.Ĭhansley, 34, was sentenced on Wednesday to 41 months by U.S. Tumbex is your access to all the tumblog, with a streamlined design and optimized navigation. (Bloomberg) - Jacob Chansley, the self-proclaimed “QAnon Shaman” who wore a coyote-skin headdress into the Senate chamber, was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his role in the Jan.